?? How siri could take over your life

Did you know that May 4th is Star Wars Day? Under the motto 'may the fourth be with you'. If you didn't know, we're gonna make sure you haven't missed any more important news this month. So here's our newsletter with an overview of the highlights. Each month we’ll share interesting tech stuff, take you along in our entrepreneurial journey, and give a brief overview of what happened at we are this month. In this episode: what is wrong with this title, could Siri become the real-life Jarvis from the Avengers, what if you don't find a 'niche' for your business and more!

Stuff we’ve liked

• Could a Flemish company soon help blind people see again? That's the mission of the Leuven-based start-up Revision. They have developed a pair of glasses with a camera that tracks where you’re looking and captures frontal images in that direction. These images are converted into signals and sent to the brain, where an implant has been placed. While still in the testing phase, the initial results are very promising.
• Sam Altman seems to have a hard time accepting "no" for an answer. Recently, Scarlett Johansson made a statement about the new voice for ChatGPT 4.0. Altman asked her if the voice could be based on hers, but she declined the offer. However, at the release, she was shocked to hear what sounded exactly like her own voice. Following a complaint from the actress, OpenAI has since stopped using the voice.

• New features are being added to Windows 11. One example is Recall, a kind of photographic memory for your computer. If you remember a specific image you saw on your browser a few weeks ago, Recall can find it based on a description. Let's just hope your friends don't get hold of your computer if you've been looking at anything weird.
• You know the feeling: you want to find that one song, but you only remember the tune and have no idea what it's called. YouTube is making it a lot easier now. You can search on YouTube by playing, singing, whistling, or humming a song! However, it's currently available only for Android, so iPhone users will need to be patient a little longer.

Talk entrepreneurial to me

In this section, we're delving deeper into the world of entrepreneurship every month. We'll discuss the insights we've gained, debunking entrepreneurial myths, sharing success stories, and opening up about the mistakes we've made and the valuable lessons we've learned from them. This time: “Make sure you first have a good niche and define it well."

“Make sure you first have a good niche and define it well."

Yeah, easier said than done. But is it really necessary to have a clear niche from the start? Considering how many people say it, maybe it is. You often read: define your niche, find a very specific target audience and market, and focus on that. But to be honest, we hadn't found our specific focus yet. And that bothered us for a while. But after many meetings, brainstorming sessions, and even a workweek later, we've figured it out: it's okay not to have one specific focus, and for us that's perfectly fine.

We are engineers, which means we like to solve problems and adapt to different challenges. Thinking along, solving problems, and brainstorming about complex issues is what we love to do. So if your team has the capacity to work on more than just web applications, for example, why limit yourself to just one thing? We want to be open to various challenges that involve custom software. Our focus is simple: whatever we take on, we deliver in f*cking good quality. And if it's something we can't do or don't have expertise in? We'll be upfront about it and not pretend otherwise. That's become our philosophy.

This doesn't mean we're certain we'll never choose a niche in the future. One thing is certain: there's no right or wrong. But let this be a reassurance if you're struggling to find a niche.

Interesting read: Debugging Tech Journalism

This month’s interesting read is an article of Timothy B. Lee for the Asterisk magazine. Can we fix Tech Journalism? Because most of it is characterized with scandals, sensationalism, and shoddy research.

'How siri could take over your life'. It's the title of this newsletter. Since you're reading this, we can assume it's working. It's sensational and hyped. The only problem: it's exaggerated and far from reality.

In his article, he highlights issues such as sensationalism, shallow reporting, and the tension between accessibility for general audiences and depth for informed readers. The piece argues that the competitive media environment incentivizes superficial coverage. Lee suggests potential solutions, including awards, story partnerships, and better support for reporters and expert sources. It calls for efforts to improve the quality of tech journalism to better inform the public.

It’s hard to cover technical subjects for normies, money matters, scandalous and sensational tech stories and silicon valley. Read it all here.

Tech gossip of the month

Apple’s AI forecast: Could Siri become the real-life Jarvis?

Apple is reportedly considering to integrate Google's Gemini AI technology into its devices. This alliance could elevate the iPhone's artificial intelligence to levels previously only imagined in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. By harnessing Google’s advanced AI, Apple aims to supercharge the iPhone's processing capabilities. However, rumours also arise about a partnership between Apple and OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone. It seems like Apple is in a luxury position to negotiate which Large language model (LLM) model it can use.

With the recent release of Google's Gemini Nano, designed for on-device features, and OpenAI’s new GPT-4o, which is faster and has new abilities, it’s not “if” but “when” mobile assistants will be enhanced with LLM models. But the real question is: which tech giant will Apple partner with?

The stakes are high as Apple explores its options to elevate Siri into a powerhouse of functionality. Enhancing Siri’s on-device processing could transform it into a more dynamic and deeply integrated assistant. Imagine Siri not just responding to commands but proactively managing your schedule, suggesting the best times for your meetings based on real-time traffic and your daily habits, or automatically adjusting your smart home settings for energy efficiency.

Furthermore, introducing more nuanced and conversational abilities could dramatically change user interactions. Siri could evolve to handle complex conversations, such as planning a vacation, booking flights, and securing accommodations—all through a single conversational thread. Enhanced Siri could provide educational support, explaining complex concepts in simple terms or assisting with language learning through interactive dialogues.

Not only Apple is working on this. Also Samsung, Google smartphones and OnePlus are taking big steps forwards.

Our key take-aways:

• Apple is not currently trying to create its own large language model (LLM).
• The capabilities that mobile assistants will have when enhanced with LLMs are really something to look forward to.
• Of course, there are also downsides. What if Siri misunderstands you and does things you don't want? If Siri can do so much more, there's also a lot more that can go wrong.
• Apple wants to perform all computations on the device itself (unlike how ChatGPT works now), for privacy reasons. This means no data would go to the cloud to be processed on a server. Finally there’s some practical use case for to the AI chips that are being built for the new iPhones.

What happened at we are this month?

What happened at we are this month in numbers?

• Manu managed to captivate the nerds at the Nerdland festival for 30 minutes with his talk on technology, society, and ethics!

• Unfortunately, this month we also said goodbye to our two beloved interns. They were with us for 14 weeks, so saying that we'll miss them is quite an understatement.
• The podcast season has begun! We've already recorded 3 podcasts in the past two weeks, so stay tuned!
• Our team is growing! This month it was confirmed that 2 new team members will be joining us soon. See you soon <3
• Apparently, our new office makes the plants happy too, so our collection keeps expanding. We've added 3 new plants already!